Dresden Approves Noise Ordinance, Mail-In Voting

BY SABRINA BATES

sabrina@dresdenenterprise.com

DRESDEN (August 3) — Although it was a light agenda for the Dresden Board of Mayor and Aldermen when it met Monday, August 3, 2020, board members reached mutual agreements on a voting and noise ordinance.

A virtual public hearing was held prior to the regular meeting Monday allowing citizens to discuss a property-rights ordinance that allows non-residents who own property in Dresden to vote by mail before it was presented to the board on its second reading. No one participated in the public meeting and the board of aldermen moved forward with the mail-in option for non-resident property owners. The ordinance went into effect after the board officially changed the wording of Dresden’s charter to reflect that of the Constitution, stipulating a municipal election will be held the second Tuesday after the first Monday during November.

The City of Dresden paved the way for the police department to enforce a vehicle noise ordinance by issuing citations to those in violation of creating more than 90 decibels of sound for exhaust and stereo systems within the city limits. Board members approved the ordinance on its first reading, with a public hearing scheduled prior to next month’s city meeting.

City Attorney Beau Pemberton said the ordinance also holds accountable businesses within the city limits that install such systems. Pemberton explained a Tennessee Code Annotated policy already determines such noise violations fall under the criminal offense of disturbing the peace.

Board members approved a resolution that moves reserve funds to the current fiscal year budget to help pay for the city’s purchase of a fire engine and upgrades to the fire department. Mayor Jeff Washburn said the money is a reserve fund already allocated for the project that needs to be moved into the current budget. The little more than $75,000 purchase is at a .7-percent interest rate to be paid within five years.

In public works updates, Washburn explained the railroad tunnel on Evergreen Street is demolished and the city is waiting for the contractor to make street repairs.

The city is working to repair a drainage ditch issue behind Vaughan Bros. Hardware, while the public works department evaluates the repair of a drain pipe under the parking lot.

Washburn announced there were a lot of “drainage-type problems around the city that need to be addressed,” but one public works department employee recently tested positive for COVID-19 while another was quarantined awaiting test results.

Alderman Joyce Hurt asked if city employees are wearing their masks. Washburn said the city makes masks available for all of its workers.